Suicide prevention : an ethically and scientifically informed approach

Author / Creator

Knapp, Samuel, author

Available as

Online

Physical

Summary

"This book is intended for professional psychologists and other psychotherapists who deal with adult outpatients with suicidal behavior. It helps psychotherapists become better at assessing, managi...

"This book is intended for professional psychologists and other psychotherapists who deal with adult outpatients with suicidal behavior. It helps psychotherapists become better at assessing, managing, and treating patients who are suicidal. Those who belong to a community in which they feel loved and valued are much less likely to die from suicide. Unfortunately, many people lack that sense of connection. Often, they end up in the offices of psychotherapists who must help them build or reestablish the social connections and resources needed to make life worth living. Suicide is caused by many factors embedded in the personal histories and experiences of every patient. The book describes the public health importance of suicide; attitudes toward suicide in society and among psychotherapists; and essential competencies needed to assess, manage, and treat suicidal patients. It reviews the steps in screening and assessing suicidal risk, including learning about the patient's suicide ideation, suicide plans, and past suicide attempts. It also describes additional information that psychotherapists need in assessing their patients. The book presents recommendations for the first stages of treatment, which emphasize informed consent, establishment of a good treatment relationship, and suicide management. It describes how psychotherapists can adapt their interventions to address issues that arise in the treatment of suicidal patients and also describes how to reduce the risk of professional liability. The book covers ethically based quality enhancement (risk management) strategies and documentation. Finally, it highlights the importance of emotional competence as an essential quality for doing good clinical work."--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

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